Charities Act

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will seek to amend Section 72 of the Charities Act 1993 to provide that a person who has been convicted of an offence specified in Schedule 1 to the Serious Crime Act 2007 shall be disqualified for being a trustee under that section.

Lord Patel of Bradford: There are no current plans to amend Section 72 of the Charities Act 1993 in the way suggested by the noble Lord. However, the Charity Commission has said that it will always consider seriously the position of any trustee convicted of a serious offence, and its impact on their suitability to continue in their role with a charity.
	It is important that charity trustees carry out appropriate checks on prospective and current trustees and that there is enhanced liaison between the Charity Commission as charity regulator and the law enforcement agencies responsible for investigating criminal offences.

Civil Service: Performance Pay

Lord Newby: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Statement by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 31 March (WS 83—84), what was the estimated size of Communities and Local Government or its predecessors' non-consolidated performance-related pay pot for the senior Civil Service in each of the past five years for which information is available.

Baroness Andrews: Pay arrangements for the senior Civil Service are managed centrally by the Cabinet Office and are based on recommendations by the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.

Civil Service: Performance Pay

Lord Newby: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Statement by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 31 March (WS 83—84), what was the estimated size of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's non-consolidated performance-related pay pot for the senior Civil Service in each of the past five years for which information is available.

Lord Carter of Barnes: Pay arrangements for the senior Civil Service are managed centrally by the Cabinet Office and are based on recommendations by the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.

Civil Service: Performance Pay

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Statement by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 31 March (WS 83—84), what was the estimated size of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skill's non-consolidated performance-related pay pot for the senior Civil Service, in each of the past five years for which information is available.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: Pay arrangements for the senior Civil Service are managed centrally by the Cabinet Office and are based on recommendations by the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.

Communications Data: Interception

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will hold their planned consultation on options for maintaining the United Kingdom's capability for intercepting communications data.

Lord West of Spithead: The consultation document on communications data is to be published shortly.

Education: Home Schooling

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government how the data field for "educational setting" on ContactPoint will be completed for home-educated children and young people.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: ContactPoint educational setting fields will be populated using a variety of sources eg local authorities. ContactPoint will not indicate what the educational setting is eg maintained, independent, home. In the case of home educated children and young people of school age it will simply hold contact details of the education provider which would be the parent, carer or guardian's name, address and contact number.

Elections: Sudan

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government which official and voluntary organisations from the United Kingdom have been invited to monitor elections in southern Sudan; and whether they will assist in the recruitment of election observers.

Lord Malloch-Brown: We are not aware that any official or voluntary organisations from the UK have yet been invited to monitor elections in Sudan, including in southern Sudan.
	The Sudanese national elections commission announced a provisional timetable for elections on 2 April 2009. The EU received an invitation from the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and national elections commission in February to join a group of other countries and regional bodies to supply electoral observers. We would want to support an EU election observer mission, including through provision of election observers when the full timetable for elections is set out.

Government: IT Contracts

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government which information technology contracts with a value of £50 million or over have been entered into by Communities and Local Government and its predecessors since 1997; and which of those have been completed to budget, to time and to specification.

Baroness Andrews: The department (then known as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) was formed in May 2002. Since then the department has awarded one IT contract with a value of over £50 million—this was for the FiReControl Project which was awarded on 30 March 2007 to EADS Defence and Security. This contract has a total value of around £200 million. Under the current planning assumptions the full system is expected to be in place by spring 2012.
	The department's agencies have not entered into any IT contracts with a value of £50 million or more.

Government: IT Contracts

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government which information technology contracts with a value of £50 million or over have been entered into by the Department of Health since 1997; and which of those have been completed to budget, to time and to specification.

Lord Darzi of Denham: Details of contracts are contained in the table.
	
		
			 Contract Supplier 
			 Local Service Provider (LSP) London BT Syntegra 
			 LSP South Fujitsu 
			 LSP North East CSC 
			 LSP East CSC 
			 LSP North West/West Midlands CSC 
			 Spine BT Syntegra 
			 N3 broadband network BT Global 
			 Choose and Book Atos Origin 
			 Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) London BT Syntegra 
			 PACS South Fujitsu 
			 PACS North East Accenture 
			 PACS East Accenture 
			 PACS North West/West Midlands CSC 
			 GP Systems of Choice Egton Medical Information Systems Ltd 
			 Departmental managed IT services and projects CSC 
		
	
	All of the contracts listed remain extant except that with Fujitsu as LSP South, which was terminated in May 2008 because of failure to meet key contractual milestones, and to provide an acceptable remediation plan.

Government: IT Contracts

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government which information technology contracts with a value of £50 million or over have been entered into by the Department for International Development since 1997; and which of those have been completed to budget, to time and to specification.

Lord Tunnicliffe: The Department for International Development has not entered into any information technology contracts with a value of £50 million or over since 1997.

Health: Disabled People

Baroness Wilkins: To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Department of Health will meet the commitment in the 2005 report of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People, to have a user-led organisation, modelled on Centres for Independent Living, in every local area by 2010; and how many staff are working to ensure that commitment is met, in this and the next financial year.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps Communities and Local Government has taken to meet the commitment in the 2005 report of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People, to have a user-led organisation, modelled on Centres for Independent Living, in every local area by 2010, in each of the past four financial years; and what plans it has for the 2009—10 financial year.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The department leads on the user-led organisations (ULOs) project to address the recommendation in Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People.
	On 27 September 2007, the department published a policy document User-led organisations project, which had been co-produced with a stakeholder-working group, setting out the strategy for delivering against this commitment. This built on mapping work commissioned by the department in 2006 to establish the baseline of existing user led organisations and bodies, which had the capacity to become user-led organisations. A copy of the policy document has been placed in the Library.
	The department is taking forward work to support the development of user-led organisations through funding and supporting 25 action and learning sites across the country. These sites will share best practice and learning. £750,000 was provided to fund 12 sites from April 2008; in March this year, £800,000 was awarded for 13 more sites for 2009-10. A further £100,000 was shared across three regions to help local authorities support local development.
	For 2009-10, the priority is to develop the capacity and capability of existing ULOs and to support the development of ULOs in areas where none currently exists. Deputy regional directors for social care and partnerships in the nine regions will be taking forward the lessons learnt from the action and learning sites and developing plans towards meeting the commitment for a ULO in every area. £900,000 is being made available to the regions to support this work. In addition, departmental officials are working closely with local authority associations and the Office of the Third Sector to support user led organisation development.
	Wide ranges of staff are doing some work on this nationally, regionally and locally and so it is not possible to give a figure.

Health: Pain Management

Lord Luce: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to ensure that the measurement of pain is routinely assessed with the same priority and frequency as the vital signs, as recommended in the Chief Medical Officer's annual report for 2008.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take regarding any imbalance in the provision of services to people with chronic pain in England, in light of the Chief Medical Officer's annual report for 2008.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to establish a national network of rapid access pain clinics providing early assessment and treatment to patients with pain, as recommended by the Chief Medical Officer in his annual report for 2008.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The Chief Medical Officer's annual report 2008 recommended that the Government should take a range of actions to improve the quality of chronic pain management.
	The National Quality Board, which met for the first time on 30 March 2009, has been established to provide strategic oversight and leadership on quality across the National Health Service. As part of that role, the National Quality Board will provide advice to Ministers on clinical priorities, including the appropriateness of particular action for a particular clinical area or condition. This advice will be based on a systematic methodology which will allow decisions to be made about where work to improve quality is most needed. The management of chronic pain, including the Chief Medical Officer's recommendations, will be considered within this context.

Human Rights

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what conclusions they have drawn from the cases decided by the European Court of Human Rights in which the Russian state was a party, or from the 20,296 cases pending against it at the end of 2007.

Lord Malloch-Brown: Where the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Russia has violated the European Convention on Human Rights, the Government expect Russia, as any respondent state, to abide by the final judgment of the court in accordance with its obligation under Article 46 of the convention. Rulings highlighting a lack of protection for civilians in Chechnya are among those which raise particular concern. We therefore welcome recent indications that Russia is making some progress towards effective investigation of these cases. We also support President Medvedev's stated aim of improving the rule of law in Russia as the most effective way of addressing the range of concerns raised in cases before the European Court of Human Rights.
	We call regularly on Russia, most recently at our human rights bilateral consultations in January 2009, to ratify Protocol 14 to the convention as a means of addressing the growing backlog of cases.

Human Rights

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what records they hold of the compliance by the Russian Federation with decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in each of the past five years.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds various documents relating to compliance of the Russian Federation with judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), in particular certain documents issued by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe which supervises execution of ECtHR judgments, and documents on cases of broader political interest.
	The ECtHR's judgments and final resolutions of the Committee of Ministers (where the Committee of Ministers has decided that all necessary measures have been taken to execute a judgment) are available for viewing online at the ECtHR website at http://cmiskp. echr.coe.int/tkp197/search.asp?skin=hudoc-en.
	Information on execution of ECtHR judgments is available for viewing online at the website of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at www.coe.int/T/E/Human_Rights/execution/.

Iraq

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make representations to the Government of Iraq about the three-year sentence imposed on 12 March on Mr Muntazer Al-Zaidi.

Lord Malloch-Brown: As an Iraqi national, Mr. Al-Zaidi is subject to the legal system of Iraq, which meets international standards. There are no grounds for the Government to intervene.

Iraq

Lord King of West Bromwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Iraq to safeguard the human rights and safety of Iranian residents in Ashraf City; and with what results.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The US held responsibility for the security and administration of Camp Ashraf until 1 January 2009. Responsibility was then transferred from the US to Iraqi authorities. The modalities of the transfer had been discussed by both sides with UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq. Prior to the transfer, the US received assurances from the Iraqi authorities towards their clear commitment to the humane treatment and continued wellbeing of the camp residents. The US retains a presence at the camp in an advisory/monitoring capacity.
	The Government of Iraq have stated that no Camp Ashraf residents will be forcibly transferred to a country where they have reason to fear persecution. The Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights visits the camp and has delivered assurances to a representative body of the residents. The International Committee of the Red Cross follows developments at the camp closely and continues to visit. It also discusses on a confidential basis all of the issues surrounding the camp with the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MeK) and the Iraqi and US authorities.
	While no specific representations to the Government of Iraq have been made, our embassy in Baghdad has requested a call on the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights to make known the level of interest in this issue in the UK and to remind the Iraqi Government of its earlier assurances. In addition to this, as stated by my honourable friend, Bill Rammell, Minister of State for the Middle East, during an adjournment debate in Westminster Hall on 25 March 2009 (Official Report, col. 90WH) "the British embassy in Baghdad is pursuing the possibility of a visit by a consular official to Camp Ashraf" to ascertain whether any of its residents might be entitled to consular assistance.

Iraq: Gay People

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Government of Iraq regarding the alleged execution of gay people in that country.

Lord Malloch-Brown: EU member states, including the UK, supported a demarche on 8 March 2009 by the Czech EU presidency to Iraqi vice President Tareez al-Hashemi and to the head of the Iraqi Prime Minister's office denouncing the death sentences of 117 individuals on death row. The understanding from our US colleagues is that these individuals have been sentenced for charges related to murder, terrorism, insurgency and kidnapping. The UK is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances and works proactively with EU partners for its abolition around the world. Since autumn 2007 there have been no reports of any executions being carried out by the Government of Iraq. Our embassy in Baghdad has requested a call on the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights and will seek to raise this issue with them.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office remains in contact with vulnerable groups and organisations such as the UK-based Iraqi lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group. We are aware of some media reports of violence committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation. Homosexuality is a culturally sensitive issue in Iraq, as in much of the Middle East. In Iraq, the legal position is unclear. The law appears to criminalise homosexual acts with individuals under the age of 18. We are seeking to clarify whether homosexuality is criminalised per se. The UK continues to press the Government of Iraq and members of the Iraqi council of representatives to protect all of Iraq's communities, regardless of faith, political persuasion and sexual orientation and to take tough action against those responsible for violence and intimidation.

Justice: Sharia Law

Baroness Falkner of Margravine: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, since 2008, they have consulted (a) working groups, (b) committees, or (c) expert or advisory groups, on Sharia law.

Lord Bach: In July 2008 Oxford University's Family Law and Policy Unit held a seminar under Chatham House Rules, at which leading Muslim academics and practitioners gave their views on Sharia law in family cases and Sharia councils. The ministry encouraged the university to convene this conference and members of ministry staff attended it. In October 2008, Dr Syed Aziz Pasha, Secretary-General of the Union of Muslim Organisations of the UK and Ireland, met my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Justice (Jack Straw), when my right honourable friend made clear that Her Majesty's Government were wholly opposed to any system of Sharia law running separately from the established laws of the United Kingdom.

National Brownfield Forum

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the National Brownfield Forum has been established; what is its remit; what is its timetable for reporting; and what financial provision has been allocated to it.

Baroness Andrews: The National Brownfield Forum has been established, and following a preliminary meeting last year, held its first full meeting in February.
	The forum's remit is to oversee the implementation of the national brownfield strategy, to improve co-ordination on contaminated land and brownfield policy between Government, devolved Administrations, regulators and practitioners, and to encourage the exchange of best practice and knowledge.
	The forum will meet quarterly and report to Ministers annually on progress. No special financial provision has been made at this stage, and any operational expenses will be covered by the two responsible departments, CLG and Defra.

NHS: Staff

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 24 March (WA 117), how many of the qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff listed as employed by the National Health Service in England were employed in administrative functions; and how many were employed in direct treatment of patients.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The definition of "qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff"" used by the NHS Information Centre to categorise these staff within the NHS Workforce Census is "staff registered with the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC)".
	Staff within this group are engaged primarily in front-line services, for the direct treatment of patients, though some nurse managers may spend time in wider liaisons and roles linked to administrative functions.
	On 25 March 2009, figures were published for the 2008 NHS Workforce Census. The following table outlines the total number of qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff.
	
		
			  Headcount 
			  2008 
			 Qualified nursing, midwifery & health visiting staff 386,112 
			 Nurse consultant 859 
			 Modern matron 5,270 
			 Community Matron 1,521 
			 Manager 7,595 
			 Registered nurse—Children 13,776 
			 Registered midwife 25,664 
			 Health visitor 11,190 
			 District nurse 10,446 
			 School nurse 1,447 
			 Other 1st level 299,129 
			 Other 2nd level 9,215 
			 Qualified nurses with unknown classification - 
		
	
	Copyright © 2009 The NHS Information Centre. All rights reserved.

Police: Databases

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay is included in the police DNA database.

Lord West of Spithead: An individual may have their DNA profile included on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) for one of two reasons. If the person is arrested for a recordable offence and detained in a police station then the police have powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) to take a DNA sample from them and submit a profile derived from it to the NDNAD. Alternatively, a profile may be retained if the person volunteers to provide a DNA sample in the course of a police investigation and agrees in writing for their DNA profile to be stored on the NDNAD.
	The NDNAD is operated by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) on behalf of police forces. Information on whether an individual has a record on the NDNAD is restricted to legitimate users of police computer systems. If an individual wishes to find out whether their DNA is on the NDNAD they should approach the police force that they think may have taken their sample, and make a subject access request to ask whether their details are recorded on the NDNAD. The police force can then carry out the necessary procedures to check this.

Polygamy

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of polygamous households in the United Kingdom.

Lord Patel of Bradford: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, National Statistician, to Baroness Warsi dated April 2009
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking what assessment has been made of the number of polygamous households in the United Kingdom (HL2635).
	The Office for National Statistics produces estimates of the population by marital status. These estimates cover single (never married), married, widowed and divorced statuses. No assessment is made of the number of polygamous households.

Sudan: Asylum Seekers

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the murder of Adam Osman Mohammed following his return from the United Kingdom to Southern Darfur, they consider it safe to continue returning asylum seekers to Sudan.

Lord West of Spithead: Enforced returns of non-Arab Darfuris to Sudan have been suspended since July 2008 and will continue to be suspended until a forthcoming country guidance case has been heard by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal later this year. Individuals are entitled to seek voluntary return to their country of nationality at any time and the UK Border Agency would not attempt to prevent such returns.
	Mr Adam Osman Mohammed returned to Khartoum under the voluntary return scheme in August 2008. He travelled to South Darfur some months later and was reportedly killed.

Terrorism

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government what unlawful terrorist-related material the police have caused to be removed without the need for notices to be served under Section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

Lord West of Spithead: Any unlawful terrorism-related material that the police cause to be removed through an informal approach connected to the preparation of a Section 3 notice would meet the criteria set out in Sections 3(1) and 3(7) (taken together with Sections 3(8)) of the Terrorism Act 2006. We are aware that informal contact from the police has resulted in removal of a range of material.
	This has included content such as video footage of violence and accompanying encouragement to viewers to engage in violent extremism.

Terrorism: Internet

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how many United Kingdom-based websites contain unlawful terrorist-related material.

Lord West of Spithead: Due to the nature of the internet, it is impossible to give a precise assessment of how much unlawful material is contained in an ever-changing number of websites based in any one country.
	The PREVENT element of the Government's recently published strategy for countering international terrorism (CONTEST) recognises that extremist websites and content can play an important role in radicalisation, and Government keep these matters under constant review. As noted in CONTEST, we assess that most material of concern is hosted overseas.

Terrorism: Internet

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to secure the removal of terrorist-related material on non-United Kingdom based websites.

Lord West of Spithead: We are actively engaged in discussions on this issue through a number of multilateral and bilateral channels, including with European Union partners, with whom we are considering a full range of options. Attempting to remove material is not the only option and brings practical difficulties due the nature of the internet.
	As with unlawfully terrorism-related material hosted in the United Kingdom, police can make informal approaches to internet service providers to request removal of the material, although there is no guarantee that this will be successful. We understand that in a small number of cases—comprehensive data not being available—terrorism-related material has been removed from websites hosted overseas following informal contact from UK police in the course of their duties. This is an operational matter for the police.

Terrorism: Internet

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many notices under Section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2006 have been issued to internet service providers outside the UK.

Lord West of Spithead: To date, no notices under Section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2006 have been issued to internet service providers outside the UK.

Terrorism: Internet

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they have provided to (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) further education colleges, (d) universities, (e) public libraries, and (f) other public facilities to use a filtering system to restrict access to terrorist-related material on the internet.

Lord West of Spithead: We are working with a range of companies that provide filtering and/or parental control software to help them to strengthen the protection their products give against terrorism-related material, giving users such as parents and schools greater opportunity voluntarily to restrict access to certain categories of material that may be harmful or offensive.
	Working through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, and following the recommendations of the Byron Review, the Government encourage wider and effective use of filtering and monitoring software across schools. Becta, the government agency that ensures effective use of technology in educational establishments in the UK, offers an accreditation scheme for internet service providers and providers of software products for the children's services sector. This accreditation scheme requires that products provide protection against terrorism-related material.
	In addition, a toolkit has been prepared to help schools and colleges contribute to the prevention of violent extremism—this includes a chapter on managing risk, including the risk that could arise from inappropriate use of ICT systems. Further advice may be available for schools and further and higher education institutions from DCSF, DIUS and from institutions' nominated points of contact in the police.
	Most public libraries have an internet filtering system managed by their local authority for blocking offensive content. In addition, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council has recently issued guidance on controversial stock, providing advice for libraries on difficult choices when managing books, information and internet content.

Terrorism: Internet

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been prosecuted for internet-related terrorist offences in each of the past 10 years.

Lord West of Spithead: We do not hold such statistics. Data collected on terrorism prosecutions do not differentiate between online and off-line actions and we are unable accurately to separate all internet-related terrorism prosecutions from other terrorism prosecutions, in which the internet may have played a part.

War Crimes

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the United Nations has started to investigate alleged war crimes in Lebanon in 2006 and in Gaza in 2008—09; if so, by what means; and when preliminary results are likely to be available.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The UN Secretary-General's board of inquiry into attacks on UN facilities in Gaza is currently carrying out its investigations and we will consider very carefully the results of the investigation once they become available. There are also enquiries under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council. The UN is to yet to confirm by what means and when the results will become available.
	A commission of inquiry, set up by the UN Human Rights Council, has investigated and reported on Israel's military action in Lebanon in 2006. A summary of the report is available for viewing online at www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/CEFE948FI2DDCEE6 C12571FD0053DBC1?opendocument.

Zimbabwe: Cholera

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in providing medical assistance to those who are suffering from cholera in Zimbabwe; and whether they have the full co-operation of the new Government of Zimbabwe.

Lord Tunnicliffe: This has been the worst cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe's history. The number of overall cases has reached 94,000, with over 4,100 deaths. Working with international partners, the Department for International Development (DfID) has made available a £10 million support package of direct responses to the epidemic itself and to boost essential medicine and supplies to help keep people alive through the worst of the crisis. The numbers of new cholera cases is now dropping sharply and the worst of the outbreak appears to be over. We continue to monitor the situation closely.
	The cholera outbreak and the dire humanitarian situation is a result of the chronic failure of social and economic policy. Only a long-term and systematic programme of reform will now begin truly to improve conditions for the people of Zimbabwe. We hope the new Government will provide this. We and the international community stand ready to support with development assistance when we see evidence of a commitment to economic and social reform and to the welfare of the population as a whole. In the mean time, we will continue to provide humanitarian and other essential help. Recent reports from the United Nations suggest that there is no substantial government obstruction to the delivery of humanitarian aid.